I’m glad I live in a world where there are Octobers

I just love the fall time.  Cool mornings and beautifully sunny afternoons.  I wish it would stay fall forever! I am also drawn to warm colors, so yellow leaves, orange pumpkins and golden sunsets just fill me with peace.
It’s been a mellow month, but there are a few fun and noteworthy things I want to remember. 
Brett, Kami and Kids came for dinner and we played soccer out on the golf course.  We are a competitive bunch and we played until it was too dark to see the ball, and then still played on.  It was so much fun.
 
The Denver Zoo had a Lego exhibit that was amazing!  We loved spotting all our favorite animals in Lego form. Halle wanted her picture with every one of them.

We went to the Vista Ridge fall festival.  It was mostly a big flop.  But, Halle and Josh got a caricature draw and they turned out so cute.  They both immediately hung them up on the wall at home. 

We are enjoying many, many fun bike rides.  The crunch of the leaves under our tires is so satisfying!

One night there was a HUGE thunder and lightening storm.  Rusty was out of town and the kids were all terrified.  We turned on music to drown out the noise and left some lights on but no one could sleep.  Finally everyone ended up in my bed.  It was a tight squeeze!  When I went to get Halle from her room I discovered the “wall of stuffies” she had built to try and block out the lightening flashes. 

I was pretty jealous that Rusty got to work from one of the Rainbow Room meeting rooms.  That view!

This month I had to say goodbye to Hayley.  And she went out with a bang.  We had a girls night out at Terror in the Corn at Anderson Farms.  This chic has style and I’m gonna miss her!

Josh: “Mom, when are we going to get to carve pumpkins instead of paint them?”  Me: “never.”

The boys are working so hard at 100 mile club!  Josh has passed 50 miles and Blake is getting close.  Some days they run hard, some days they just walk but I am proud of their determination and consistency.  Right now Josh has the 2nd most miles in the 3rd grade. 

Josh earned his wolf badge at Pack Meeting.  The cub scout program was revamped a few months ago and Josh was so worried that he wouldn’t be able to earn his patch with all the new changes.  His leaders assured him as long as he came to den meetings and participated that he would earn his award.  We had to skip den one week because of other commitments and he was distraught. Of course, all was well.  He’s such a little rule follower.  He does not get that trait from me.
It was a fun surprise to be awarded with my Mother’s Pin. I know nothing about scouts, so basically everything that happens is a surprise to me

Golden Dragons rise again

(left to right: Allison, Halle, Peyton, Maddie, Jenna, Sadie, Tara. Middle ros: Naomi, Emily, Kaila, Autumn, Abril. Botton row: Phoebe, Hallie)

Soccer season just ended, and what a season it was!  The Golden Dragons stayed on top, dropping just one game, to end the season at 7-1.  These girls are gooooood and it is so fun to watch their magic.  The great thing about our team is that we’ve now played together for 5 seasons and we know each others strengths and weaknesses, and we trust each other.  I also love that there is not one dominating player on the field.  We have a ton of depth, with over 1/2 the team scoring goals this season. 

Some of my favorite moments included: Watching Halle score her first goal.  It was amazing and I was so proud.  She has always played defender positions and at the beginning of the season I told her I was going to make a mid fielder out of her.  She didn’t believe me, but she was born for midfield.  After she scored the goal I think she finally believed me.

We had a tough game against a Louisville team.  Maddie had taken a number of shots and missed by inches, or the goalie got lucky.  She was feeling frustrated and she told me she was afraid to take anymore shots on goal because she might miss.  I told her to never be afraid to miss.  She could miss 100 times and it wouldn’t matter.  What mattered was that she tried her best and took risks.  About 5 min later she scored a goal that won the game for us.  She had scored many goals throughout the season but when she came off the field she said, “I am more proud of that goal than any other I have ever scored.” 

I love how much the girls love our Mascot, George the Golden Dragon.  He was in all their individual pictures on picture day.  So sweet.  And everyone has to give George a good luck rub before the game. 

In our last game we were up 3-0.  Jenna, our goalie wanted to come play on the field, which I don’t usually let her do because she is so darn good in the goal.  But since we were winning by such a wide margin I let her come play forward.  And she scored a goal on her first run down the field.  AWESOME. 

The Golden Dragons have one more season before many of the girls age out of the program.  We are all already looking forward to continuing the dynasty in the spring.

getting crafty

I don’t do it often, but I do love getting creative every once and awhile.  And I’m pretty proud of how these little projects turned out! These are over a period of about 3 months, lest anyone get any crazy ideas. But now I’m exhausted and will go into crafty hibernation for the winter.

Sarah, Hayley and I hosted a baby shower for Elly.  It turned out beautifully!  This was my first attempt at a diaper cake and  it was really fun.

I have had my eye on a pillow similar to this for awhile now.  But that pillow was $97.  So, with the help of Joanna and her amazing Silhouette, I made my own.

And since I liked making the first diaper cake so much, I tried again for one of Rusty’s coworkers.  They didn’t know the gender of the baby, so I tried to keep in neutral (ish)

I did a Whole30 with Gina and Kimberlie in Sept and I‘m so glad I did.  Even though it was hard it was nice to know I could be in total control of what I eat.  And my body felt so good!  No sugar (of any kind), dairy, grains or legumes for 30 days.  Some changes I noticed were: Energy like I was a kid again, awesome sleep, lots of joint aches and pains GONE, running injury I’ve been nursing for months GONE, carpal tunnel really improved, my skin looks AWESOME, and I don’t have to wash my hair nearly as often.  WIN! 

Every year I make a small gift for my soccer girls.  I really love being their coach.  They teach me so much, and I hope I teach them a little too. So many life lessons play out on the soccer field. This year I went with an edible gift.  I made jersey shaped cookies and then decorated them with their name and jersey number.  They were a hit! I also made them some super easy soccer hair ties.